Traveling is such a precious experience. Of course, you get to relax and have fun and put your daily responsibilities out of your mind for a while. But there’s also so much potential to learn about a new place and broaden your worldview. As musicians, we can apply the same idea to the study of our instruments. Not only can it be helpful to just give yourself a break from your routines and come back to the practice room with a well rested body and mind, but spending time away from your normal practice environment forces you to be creative. There are tons of helpful exercises you may not think of when you’re home with your normal routine and unfettered access to your instrument. Here are just a few!

Read and study your music

One of the most helpful (and most overlooked) practice techniques is to study your music without actually playing it. Obviously when you’re playing, most of your brain is focused on getting it right. Lots of details can fall by the wayside depending on how far along you are with a piece. The longer you practice, the easier it becomes to memorize a piece. We usually chug along until we know the big building blocks of notes and rhythms and then eventually start to memorize the stylistic elements. But if you take away the challenge of playing the music, you can speed up that memorization and embed the details from the very beginning.

If you’re a beginner, try reading through your piece and saying or writing each note. Young students can even color copies of their pieces, coloring each note a specific color and circling dynamics, rests, and other expression markings. For more advanced students, visualize yourself playing as you read through. Mark fingerings or other notes you suspect (or know) you may have trouble with. Highlight or circle expression markings and visualize yourself executing them. Put brackets around fast or challenging sections to highlight them for special practice when you’re back at home.

Lesson: Practice isn't just about playing a piece, it’s about getting to know a piece. Visualizing yourself playing and hearing the music in your head are valuable skills. The more prepared you are before you play, the more efficient your practicing will be.

Listen to different performances

Listening to music is one of the easiest ways to stay engaged while traveling. Vacations are a perfect time to listen to more music than you might usually (of any genre!), and more specifically they’re a wonderful opportunity to listen to pieces you’re learning. First of all, it helps ground your musical journey in your memory. If you study an instrument for years, it can be hard to remember when you learned specific pieces. But if you build memories during your time away that feature music you’re learning now, they have a clear place in time. And maybe they’ll help you remember this time in your life and the process of learning this piece any time you go back to the same place. That isn’t so much a tip for improving your playing, but having tangible memories of pieces you’ve learned is like a gift to your future self.

But that’s not to say it can’t improve your playing too! Spend time with recordings of the pieces you're learning. Find different versions recorded by different musicians. Listen actively rather than passively, and try to pay attention to details. Follow along with the score if you have it, and make note of the artist’s phrasing, articulation, dynamics, etc. As you listen, try imagining yourself performing the piece. Research tells us this kind of visualization can strengthen the neural pathways involved in performance, so repeated, active listening like this is a great tool in helping you feel prepared.

Lesson: Listening is a totally valid form of practice. Active listening helps you to memorize a piece, deepens your understanding of it, and helps you think through or plan out your musical choices in your own performance.

Explore the history behind your pieces

You can of course practice and learn a piece perfectly well without even knowing who wrote it. But if you find yourself with a bit of extra time on your hands, learning about the context in which a song was written is a great way to deepen your understanding of it. And depending on how much time you have, you can decide how much you’d like to learn. We’re in an information age where you can basically find out as much as you’d like. Start with figuring out who wrote the piece and when. From there, you can read about the composer's life. Find out what was happening both in their life and in the world when the piece was written. Learn about what inspired the piece if possible and how audiences responded when they first heard it.

Knowing about the musicians who came before you is an important way to honor the work they’ve done. You’re already helping their legacy live on by playing their music, but learning about them beyond just their name adds an emotional depth to your performances and helps you become a more well-rounded and informed musician.

Lesson: Learning about the background of your pieces helps you to understand the composer’s mindset. Better understanding the context and intention of a piece will help you better deliver thoughtful and compelling performances.

Find new repertoire
Without the pressure of preparing for lessons or performances, vacation is a perfect time to immerse yourself in new music as well. Listen to a composer or musician you've never studied before. Browse through unfamiliar sheet music, either online or in real life! If you can find a music shop where you are, looking through old music books or albums is a great activity and another wonderful way to tie your music study with experiences and memories in your life. Finding a song that originated in the region you’re vacationing in is another fun way to do this! And if you really want to put yourself out there, you can talk to local people about music. Getting song/album/artist recommendations from real people on vacation is another brilliant way for the enriching elements of travel to affect your music study. Make note of anything that excites you and bring it back to your teacher when you’re back to your normal routine.

Lesson: Let yourself be inspired to find new music. Actively pursue songs and artists that make you excited to come home and practice.

Find opportunities to make music or attend a performance

This one isn’t always possible, but is a fun treat when it is! Of course bringing a speaker or headphones on a trip is a great way to integrate music into your vacation, but you may also be able to participate in music beyond just listening. Maybe you can attend a live performance and deepen your knowledge of the local music culture. (That’s also a great way to implement the above tip on finding new repertoire!) You can also enjoy other music-oriented activities like a tour of a historic music venue or maybe a karaoke night! Depending on your instrument, you may even be able to practice a bit of your repertoire at a hotel or a local music store too.

The point is to try to treat music like a part of your life rather than something that’s confined to your practice room. Seeking out musical experiences vastly increases your chances of being inspired by new music, learning something new, or meeting other lovely musicians around the world.

Lesson: In the same way that consistent practice builds your technical skills, musical experiences build your musicianship. Look for opportunities to experience music wherever you are and be open to making music or listening to it in new ways and in new places!

All this to say, meaningful musical growth isn’t confined to your lessons. Listening, studying, researching, experiencing, and being inspired are all valuable parts of becoming a better musician. Happy travels and happy practicing!